Images of Tingwall and Rousay:
Category Archives: AL - Blog 2010 - Page 2
Thursday, September 30, 2010 — A Rousay Gallery
Thursday, September 30, 2010 ― Isle of Rousay
So Magnus Erlendson, when he came up from the shore that Easter Monday, towards noon, to the stone in the centre of the island, saw against the sun eleven men and a boy and a man with an axe in his hand who was weeping. Read more »
Thursday, September 30, 2010 ― Orkney Breakfast, Orkney Bannock
Breakfast in Kirkwall was delicious, but it was a vegetarian’s nightmare. Fried eggs, a huge beef sausage much meatier than an English banger, a slab of blood pudding, some fried tomatoes, and toast. Nothing even remotely green. Read more »
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 ― Orkney Dialect
I had been warned that the Orkney dialect was “difficult,” but it is perfectly comprehensible to any Canadian, and extremely pleasing to the ear. The intonation pattern, in particular, reminds me of Canadian speech in the Atlantic Provinces. Read more »
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 ― Kirkwall, Orkney
Upon my word, my journal goes charmingly on at present.… How easily and cleverly do I write just now! I am really pleased with myself; words come skipping to me like lambs upon Moffat Hill; and I turn my periods smoothly and imperceptibly like a skilfull wheelwright turning tops in a turning-loom. There’s fancy! There’s simile! In short, I am at present a genius: in that does my opulence consist, and not in base metal.
― James Boswell, Boswell’s London Journal, 1762–1763 Read more »
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 — A West Mainland Gallery (part 2)
More images of West Mainland: Read more »
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 — A West Mainland Gallery (part 1)
Images of West Mainland, Orkney (part 1) Read more »
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 — West Mainland, Orkney
I was eager to get to some of the key archaeological sites, so I hoisted my pack and set out on foot. I soon got a lift with a cheerful Orcadian, and was dropped off at the base of the narrow arm of land that separates the Loch of Stenness from the Loch of Harray. This was the most active center of Neolithic Orkney. It was but a short walk to the Stones of Stenness. These date from around 3000 BC. The physical setting, between two lochs and at the centre of a vast bowl of land surrounded by high, bare hills, is marvelous. I was beneath a particularly fine mix of sun and clouds, and there was nobody about to spoil the sense of mystery and awe.
Monday, September 27, 2010 — Stromness, Orkney
Stromness is a pleasing little harbour with many grey stone building climbing a steep hill. Smack in the middle, however, is a hideous glass box, an example of just the kind of esthetic crime I complained about in the last post. The main commercial street is a narrow , winding lane, paved with flagstones, and hemmed in by mostly eighteenth and nineteenth century houses. Pedestrians share it, anarchically, with automobiles. Most parts only have room for a car going in one direction, but there are occasional wider spots where oncoming traffic can negotiate precedence. Read more »
Monday, September 27, 2010 — Isle of Hoy, Orkney
I crossed the Pentland Firth to Orkney on the Hamnavoe, a finely appointed, Finnish-made ship which sails to the Orcadian port of Stromness. But before it reached the Orkney “Mainland,” * it passed close to the western end of the Isle of Hoy. Here are the United Kingdom’s highest sea-cliffs, as high as 350 m/1150 f. Struck by the afternoon light, they were extraordinarily beautiful. If my trip had ended at this place, I would have pronounced it entirely worthwhile. We passed by the Old Man of Hoy, a stone stack separated from the cliffsthat rises 137 m/450 f from the waves. Read more »